A postcard meant to get the attention of registered voters has been sent back to the drawing board by the West Michigan Airport Authority.

Because the authority board is waiting for a redesign, it held off on voting whether to send the postcard to only households with registered voters in the three municipalities that pay a tax levy to the West Michigan Regional Airport or if it should also send it to households in Holland and Zeeland charter townships.

The cost difference between sending the card to 21,000 homes opposed to 38,000 homes was $5,555 to $9,363.

The authority has not considered asking the townships again to pass a millage there, so sending it would be information only. The postcard, meant to be a quasi annual report, showed what the plans and priorities of the authority are and how the budget is spent. The original design was bland, so the Communications Committee was asked to try again.

Overall, the authority board is supportive of getting information out to the public. Some members of the board thought that, along with the three pie charts that gave a quick glimpse of the budget and the list of major projects from this fiscal year and next, the postcard should include information about the roughly 35,000 flights that go in and out each year. It should also include businesses that use the airport, such as Menards, a new addition flying at least two times per day, three days per week out of Holland instead of Grand Rapids.

There was some discussion on whether buying a newspaper advertisement or putting the postcard design on the website would be more cost effective. Authority Board Chairman, Zeeland City Manager Tim Klunder called the postcard proactive, though, saying it would get airport information out to those who wouldn’t normally go in search of it.